MBA642 Subject Name: Project Initiation, Planning and Execution Assessment Title Success and Failure Factors Assessment Type: Length: Infographic 1000 words (+/- 10% allowable range) Weighting: 30% Total Marks: Submission: 100

MBA642 Project Initiation, Planning and Execution

Workshop Week 3 Project Scheduling: Developing a Network

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• Understand and apply key scheduling terminology • Apply the logic used to create activity networks,

including predecessor and successor tasks • Develop an activity network using the Activity-on-

Node (AON) technique

Workshop Objectives

What is Project Scheduling? • Project scheduling – a complex undertaking involving a

number of related steps. • Consider the analogy of a jigsaw puzzle • Firstly, create the border and think about how the pieces

should fit together. • Next, add more and more pieces, gradually giving the

puzzle its shape and image. • Similarly, the methodologies in project scheduling build

upon each other. • Project scheduling requires us to follow some carefully laid-

out steps, in order, for the schedule to take shape.

Project Scheduling

• Project scheduling techniques are fundamental to project planning, monitoring and control.

• Project scheduling allows for project goals to completed through a specific methodology.

• A timetable is developed that shows the network logic that relating project activities to each other.

• Because project management relies on completing a finite set of goals in a specified timeframe, development of the project schedule is vitally important to success.

Project Scheduling • This week and next week, we will be looking at a number of

project scheduling components and demonstrate how to the project plan is developed from a simple set of identified project activities into a graphical set of sequential relationships.

• Definition – Project Scheduling has been defined as: “An output of a schedule model that presents linked activities with planned dates, durations, milestones, and resources.”

Project Management Institute (2013). Project Management Body of Knowledge, 4th ed. Newtown Square, PA:PMI

Workshop Activity • Suppose you and your fellow classmates

were given an assignment on project management.

• At the end of the semester, you are expected to submit a paper and deliver a presentation.

• In small groups of 3 or 4, consider what steps you may identify in completing the task.

• Share your findings with the rest of the class.

Project Scheduling • Defining all the steps necessary to complete the

assignment is a vital first step in project scheduling.

• Why? Because it adds a sequential logic to the tasks and enables you to create a coherent project plan from start to finish.

• To ensure the best use of time and availability, you should create a network of the activities listed above, that is, the most likely order in which they must occur to be done correctly.

Project Scheduling

• Once you have identified a possible sequential logic for the network, you can construct a network diagram.

• This is defined as a “schematic display of the project’s sequential activities and the logical relationships between them”.

• The following slides show two examples of a network diagram for the project.

Network Diagram

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p300

Network Diagram

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p300

Workshop Activity Scheduling Terminology

• Project Scheduling has its own nomenclature (language peculiar to a particular specialist field) so it is important that you understand and become familiar with the terms used.

• Form 4 small groups. • Using a mobile / laptop / tablet, search for definitions

for the terms that appear on the next slide. • Be prepared to share the definitions with the rest of

the class.

Workshop Activity

Group A

Path

Event

CPM

Group B

Predecessors

Successors

Merge Activity

Group C

Project Network Diagram

PERT

Node

Group D

Forward Pass

Backward Pass

Burst Activity

Scheduling Terminology

• The two most common methods for constructing activity networks involve Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) and Activity-on-Node (AON) logic.

• AOA method – the arrow represents the task, or activity, and the node signifies an event marker that marks the completion of one activity and the potential start of the next.

• AON method – the node represents an activity and the path arrows demonstrate the logical sequencing from node to node through the network.

1

Slide 14

1 Martin Basedow, 3/08/2017

Developing a Network • Network diagramming – a logical, sequential process

that requires consideration of the order in which activities should occur so that projects can be scheduled as efficiently as possible.

• There are two primary methods for developing activity networks, PERT and CPM.

• PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) was developed in the late 1950s for the creation of the Polaris missile program.

• PERT was originally used in research and development (R&D), a field in which activity duration estimates can be difficult to make, and resulted from probability analysis.

Developing a Network • CPM (Critical Path Method) – developed

independently at the same time as PERT by DuPont, Inc.

• CPM used commonly in the construction industry, differs from PERT primarily in the assumptions it makes about estimating activity durations.

• CPM – assumes that durations are easier to ascertain and can be assigned to activities with greater confidence.

• CPM also was designed to better link and control project activity time and costs, particularly the time/cost trade-offs that lead to crashing decisions (speeding up the project).

Developing a Network 1. Determination of activity precedence – i.e. All activities must be

logically linked to each other –those that precede others, as well as successor activities (those that must follow others).

2. Network diagrams normally flow from left to right. 3. An activity cannot begin until all preceding connected activities

have been completed. 4. Arrows on networks indicate precedence and logical flow. Arrows

can cross over each other, although it is helpful to limit this effect when possible.

5. Each activity should have a unique identifier associated with it (code, number, letter etc.). For simplicity, these identifiers should occur in ascending order; each one should be larger than the identifiers of preceding activities.

6. Looping, or recycling through activities, is not permitted. 7. Although not required, it is common to start a project from a single

beginning node, even when multiple start points are possible. A single node point is typically used as a project end indicator.

Labeling Nodes Nodes representing project activities should be clearly labeled with different information. It is useful if the nodes contain the following:

1. Identifier 2. Descriptive label 3. Activity duration 4. Early start time 5. Early finish time 6. Late start time 7. Late finish time 8. Activity float

Labels for Activity Node

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p303

Activity Node Labels Using MS Project 2013

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p303

Serial Activities • Serial activities are those that flow from one

to the next in sequence. • Following the logic of the diagram below,

we cannot begin work on Activity B until Activity A has been completed. Activity C cannot begin until both Activities A and B are finished.

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p303

Concurrent Activities • Often it is possible to begin work on more than

one activity simultaneously. • The diagram below shows an example of how

concurrent project paths are represented in an activity network.

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p304

Concurrent Activities • Often it is possible to begin work on more than

one activity simultaneously. • The diagram below shows an example of how

concurrent project paths are represented in an activity network.

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p304

Merge Activities • Merge activities are those with two or more immediate

predecessors (see diagram below). • Merge activities – often at critical junction points (places

where two or more parallel project paths converge).

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p304

Burst Activities • Burst activities are those with two or more immediate

successor activities. • The diagram below graphically depicts a burst activity, with

Activities B, C, and D scheduled to follow the completion of Activity A.

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p304

Workshop Activity

Activity Predecessors A - B A C B D B E C,D F C G E,F H D,G

Assuming the following information, create an activity network that shows the sequential logic between the project tasks. Where are the merge and burst activities?

Workshop Activity LECTURER SLIDE ONLY

SOLUTION

Worked Example Constructing a Basic Activity Network

The table below identifies eight activities and their predecessors in a simple example project:

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p305

Worked Example Constructing a Basic Activity Network

• The diagram below shows a partial network diagram based on the information we have compiled to this point.

• Based on our definitions, Activity A is a burst activity and Activity D is a merge activity.

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p306

Worked Example Constructing a Basic Activity Network

• We can continue to create the network iteratively as we add additional activity nodes to the diagram. The diagram below shows the completed activity network.

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p306

Activity Networks Using Software Applications

• It should be noted that software applications (such as Microsoft Project) are commonly used to construct Activity Networks.

• We will be covering such applications in Week 9.

Summary

• Covered some of the key scheduling terminology.

• Applied the logic used to create activity networks.

• Developed an activity network using Activity- on-Node (AON) techniques.